Still perched at the no. 4 spot in the state Class A rankings, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls lacrosse team motored toward the post-season, though perhaps a bit concerned with the way its defense was performing.
In a showdown with Baldwinsville last Thursday night at Bragman Stadium, the Northstars threatened a blowout in the early going, but instead got lassoed into an up-and-down, high-scoring affair where it needed all 50 minutes to get past the Bees 17-14.
When these two teams had first met April 8 at Onondaga Community College, C-NS pulled away in the second half and prevailed 13-6. At the very least, B’ville wanted the rematch to be a bit closer.
But it didn’t start that way. The Northstars got a goal just 11 seconds into the game and, controlling the draws and attacking at will, dashed to an 8-1 lead before the game reached the 15-minute mark.
Bent on avoiding another West Genesee-type blowout, B’ville started fighting back, as Taylor Gebhardt scored twice and Alex Leo also scored to cut the gap to 8-4 before the Northstars scored in the last seconds of the half to take a 9-4 edge to the break.
What the Bees did in the second half made home fans quite nervous. Every time C-NS tried to get away, B’ville would put together a scoring spurt, not letting deficits of 14-7 or 16-10 prevent it from battling to try and catch up.
C-NS would hang on, though, with stars Meghan Duffy and Tiffany Ryan setting the pace with four goals apiece as they combined for five assists, too. Samantha Tortora and Courtney Kenny added their own three-goal hat tricks. Bryar Cummings, Mallory Eymer and Jenna Lippert got single goals.
B’ville saw Gebhardt put up five goals, with Leo, Marjorie Dehm, Andrea Walker and Glory Johnson each scoring twice and Jaclyn Hingre adding a goal.
Two nights earlier, C-NS rolled past Oswego 14-3, though it wasn’t easy in the early going. In fact, the Northstars only carried a 4-3 lead to the break before it started dominating the draws and put up 10 unanswered goals in the second half.
Duffy, with three goals and two assists, and Kenny, with three goals and one assist, set the pace. Ryan and Tortora each had one goal and one assist as Cummings and Morgan Silfer also found the net.
As that went on, Liverpool took its shot at Baldwinsville and played quite well for a half, only to get stampeded in the latter stages of an 11-5 defeat to the Bees.
A patient attack, along with stellar defense, helped Liverpool seize a 4-2 lead by halftime. But once B’ville started winning draws in the second half, everything changes as the tempo increased and the Bees, with its depth, wore the Warriors down.
Natalie Parkins scored three of Liverpool’s five goals. Kasi Cabrey and Rachel Kline also found the net, with Megan Evangelista earning 12 saves. Gebhardt led the B’ville comeback, pouring in four goals and adding two assists.
Even more daunting for the Warriors was Friday night’s visit from state no. 1-ranked West Genesee, who put on another exceptional effort and beat Liverpool 15-2.
Much like WG’s previous two opponents (B’ville and Fayetteville-Manlius), Liverpool could not get on the board in the first half, and the Wildcats, with a quick and efficient attack, took charge, racing out to a 10-0 lead.
Kline and Julia Sardella would get goals in the second half and Cabrey added an assist, but only when the game was well out of reach. Riley Donahue, with six assists, anchored a Wildcat offense that saw Grace Osterdale score four times and Hannah Elmer add three goals and two assists.
